LAKE ELSINORE: More homes coming to Summerly

Atlanta-based developer to build neighborhood

Another developer has signed on to build homes in Summerly, a
sprawling master-planned community in southern Lake Elsinore.

McMillin Communities, which bought the 700-acre tract last year
in a partnership with investors, has enlisted Beazer Homes USA Inc.
to build 66 houses in a neighborhood it has dubbed Sunset
Hills.

Atlanta-based Beazer is the second company brought in by
McMillin as a "guest builder" to erect houses in a community that
ultimately is expected to consist of 22 neighborhoods with as many
as 1,800 homes.

Combined with nine model homes that were built by McMillin's
predecessor and recently sold to home buyers, Beazer's development
would mean Summerly could see as many 149 rooftops by the end of
the year.

"It's great to see people finally moving into and living out in
Summerly," McMillin Senior Vice President Brian Milich said in an
interview Tuesday. "That's exciting, and it will be nice to have
these two neighborhoods going in."

Richmond American already has broken ground and plans to build a
74-home neighborhood called Northstar between Spirit Park, where
the models are located, and Mission Trail to the east. Sunset Hills
will spring up directly southwest of Northstar and south of Spirit
Park.

Milich said the company is looking to bring in at least one
other developer this year to build a neighborhood. Meanwhile,
McMillin has refurbished many of Summerly's features, including The
Links golf course, that were left in limbo for a couple of years
after the previous owner went bankrupt.

He said McMillin is hoping that development of the first three
neighborhoods along with the models will set the stage for steady
growth in the community bordering Lake Elsinore's minor-league
baseball stadium, The Diamond, in an area city officials have
dubbed the Ballpark District. Another developer is planning an
entertainment and retail complex next to the stadium.

"We are optimistic," Milich said of Summerly's future growth.
"The fact that the models are all sold and eight of them are now
closed is a very good sign. ... We think that with the improvements
we've made to the golf course, the clubhouse, the entry features
and landscaping, coupled with the three guest builders'
neighborhoods, it will set the tone for the community going forward
and give us a strong start in 2011 and going into 2012."

Beazer is proposing to offer three distinct floor plans of
single-story and two-story homes ranging from 1,856 square feet to
2,414 square feet. The blueprints must go through the city's design
review process at the Planning Commission and City Council.

Pricing for the homes has not been set yet, according to a news
release from McMillin.

Model home construction at Sunset Hills is anticipated to begin
in August.

Richmond American already has broken ground on its neighborhood,
which will feature single-story residences and some two-stories
ranging from about 1,800 square feet to about 2,050 square
feet.

The sizes of the homes in both neighborhoods are much smaller
than the model homes, which were built by the tract's original
owner John Laing Homes in 2008 before the home-building giant went
bankrupt and lost Summerly to Bank of America.